Did the industrial revolution push us forwards or backwards...?

We email instead of writing actual letters. We chat on instant messenger systems instead of talking in person. We have cellular telephones, pagers, vcr's, TiVo; all time saving devices. We have computers and laptops and palm pilots that do everything for us, and keep us so organized we can't forget anything or leave our lives up to any amount of human error.

We have computer reminders and day timers to remember special events, work obligations and family birthdays. We no longer have to watch our children, cook our own food or answer our telephones. There are machines to complete our tasks, our work and even our recreation. We can order in food, have our dry cleaning done (picked up and delivered), and have our dishes washed. We can program our vcr's and TiVo to record our television shows, and even edit out the commercials. Some will even tell you what you should be watching based on what they have watched for you. We can screen our calls with answering machines and caller id (to the point where no one can get through unless you actually know them) and we can program our lights and appliances to turn on and off when we're not even at home, in the city or even in the same country as they are.

Has all of this "help" has ruined us...? We no longer rely upon each other to do things. We no longer need to have a relationship with anyone; nothing deeper than a quickie phone conversation while you're rushing from one meeting to another. You can communicate with anyone anywhere you want to via email and never have to meet with them face-to-face. Is there even such a thing as an intimate friendship anymore? Does it really still exist or has it gone the way of the dinosaur...the rotary telephone and the hand-written letter? We evolved right past intimacy as we rushed past all the things that made us capable of establishing and nurturing an intimate relationship.

Has cooking gone the very same direction? Do we try to cook the quick meal and get the task over with before we have even begun? Do we microwave everything within an inch of its life and then eat it while standing over the sink as we listen to the vcr click on to watch television for us? Some of us do…Many of us in this “food blog land” do not. We enjoy savoring what we do in the kitchen – like a great novel or a trip across the country on a train. It is as though we all live in a world where time has not touched that one room in the house – the kitchen – wherein we find our sanctuary. Those of us who have not evolved past human touch and intimate conversations still require that sort of outlet. Cooking to us is the basic milk of human kindness.

I think that cooking the perfect steak is a part of this process. Last summer S. and I were determined to do this up at the cottage (the only place in the world where a kitchen that measures less than 9’ by 3’ is suitable for my culinary predilections) and I believe we did. We made coffee marinated steak that was out of this world. I think this summer he and I should try to put together a list of guidelines for cooking the perfect steak.